Life Beyond
by Quazer
Summary: It's been four years. Four years since Derek's brother died. Four years since Derek retreated into a shell and shut the world out. Four years of playing the same online card game over and over again, the last game his brother taught him to play. One day Derek gets a mysterious password to a breathtaking world. And there he discovers how powerful a life really can be... AU
1. Life Beyond Chapter 1

Book 1: Life Beyond - Chapter 1

* * *

Derek double-tapped his laptop's touchscreen, having his Porthyn cast an OverWorld Refrain of Denial mugic. He then won the game with a Mind Strike.

Moments later, Derek's mother closed the laptop. "Doctor Johnson is ready, son."

Derek scowled, but stood and shuffled his feet towards the door.

"Hello, Derek," Johnson said.

"Morning," Derek grunted as he sat down.

After a few moments of silence, Johnson finally asked, "Do you have anything to say?"

Derek avoided eye contact. "No."

Johnson leaned forward and folded his hands. "I know it's been hard for you, but I can't help you if you won't say anything. Why don't we start with-"

Derek glared at the doctor. "He was supposed to be coming back. A week, that's all he needed left. Now it's been four years!"

Johnson waited silently as Derek vented.

"Jared had been in Iraq for two years! We were preparing a celebration for when he came back! _He came back in a box!_"

\/\/\/

Jared had been awarded a posthumous silver star. He'd saved the lives of his entire squad. He'd died in the process.

Jared had thrown himself on top of an bomb that was just about to detonate. He'd dampened the force enough that the rest of the soldiers only had mild injuries. Pieces of Jared, however, were spread as far as forty feet in every direction.

Derek didn't care that Jared died a hero. All he cared about was that he'd died. Derek spent the next four years almost dead himself...

* * *

Author's Notes: I do not own Chaotic. All characters and other things Chaotic belong to TCDigital. I will not be repeating this every chapter.

After entirely too long of an absence, I'm back! This chapter is short, I know. Bad Quazer.


	2. Life Beyond Chapter 2

Book 1: Life Beyond - Chapter 2

* * *

Derek sat in front of his computer, waiting for the Internet to connect. He absentmindedly picked up one of his cards and flipped it into the air.

"Heads," he muttered.

The card landed face-down. Derek scowled and picked it up again.

"Heads."

Face-down.

"Heads."

Face-down.

"_Tails._"

Face-up.

Derek sighed and gave up just as Chaotic's home page popped up on-screen. Derek lazily typed in his username and password...

"YOU HAVE A PRIVATE MESSAGE. OPEN/IGNORE"

Derek raised an eyebrow and clicked "OPEN". The message was a single line long. A code for a card.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try, even if it is fake," Derek thought as he stood. He rummaged through his drawers until he found his blue scanner. "F... 2..."

Derek sat down and typed the rest of the code in, then pressed submit.

The screen went blank.

"Piece of..." Derek tapped the screen, then hit the back of the scanner a few times. Then he caught sight of his computer screen. "Where did my account go?"

Derek spent the next few minutes trying to fix his computer...

\/\/\/

"Ack!"

Derek fell backwards and hit the ground. Eyes closed, he grabbed the back of his head and groaned. A shadow appeared overhead, and Derek could hear someone's voice:

"Dude, you have to stand when you're typing in your transport code."

Derek's eyes flew open. "How'd you get in my room?" he demanded. Then he spotted the ceiling. "This... is not my room."

The teen standing over Derek laughed. "Ah, you're new." He extended his hand and said, "My name's Joseph Harrison."

Derek grabbed Joseph's hand. "Derek White. Help me up?"

Joseph hoisted Derek to his feet. Derek rubbed the back of his head and asked, "Where are we?"

Joseph grinned. "Brace yourself. We're in Chaotic."

Derek shrugged. "Oh. Okay."

Joseph looked deflated. "That wasn't the reaction I expected," he muttered.

Derek looked around. Chaotic looked like a rather large cafeteria. "I guess I'm a tad numb to surprises. Why is Chaotic a restaurant?"

Joseph smirked. "This is the PortCourt. The BattleDromes are something else entirely. Speaking of BattleDromes... three... two... one..."

A floating robot appeared out of nowhere. "WELCOME, USERNAME _PeaceMaker_. YOUR FIRST DROME MATCH WILL BE IN THE _Oron_ DROME IN _five_ MINUTES. YOU WILL BE FACING USERNAME _SwanSong_2_."

Derek blinked. "Um, thanks?"

"YOU'RE WELCOME."

As the robot floated away, Derek let out a breath. "Okay... that was odd. Where's the Oron Drome?"

Joseph tugged on Derek's arm. "Follow me. SwanSong, eh? Also known as 'Noob Eater' around here. She's really tough. A natural with the M'arrillian tribe. Once, she played a 6 vs. 1 handicap match, she was the one with only one creature, and she won in three turns!"

"Amazing," Derek said in a I-don't-care tone...

* * *

Author's Note: I have no idea how one would win a match like that in three turns, except maybe with Aa'une the Oligarch. ...Hm... *scribbles notes*


End file.
